>Not that more than the two eager-beavers who e-ed me seem to care, but
>it seems all Muricids, Nucella lapillus included, are flesh-eaters, and
>distain anything remotely resembling a vegetable.
>
> My question now is, are there families of molluscs which are split
>along vegetarian/carnivore lines? My understanding is that there are
>fundamental differences in the radula of primary vs secondary consumers,
>and that the radula is an "evolutionarily conservative" feature,
>meaning that it changes more slowly than such things as patterns,
>sculpture, size, etc. Thus, radulae amongst members of any taxonomic
>unit as closely related as the "Family" level, will be similar enough to
>make it seemingly unlikely in the extreme that any Family would contain
>species whose radula is specialized for carnivorie as well as relatively
>unspecialized salad-munching radulae-bearing spp. Howev er, i
>nevertheless request the list to come up with exeptions to this
>supposition. Any candidates?
>
>
- Ross Mayhew
>
>
In the chitons, the Mopaliidae are split (but quite lopsided). Mopalia,
Plaxiphora, etc. are vegans; Placiphorella are carnivores.
It also is my understanding that some conchs, such as S. gallus, are
scavengers rather than vegans.
* G Thomas Watters *
* Ohio Biological Survey & *
* Aquatic Ecology Laboratory *
* Ohio State University *
* 1315 Kinnear Rd. *
* Columbus, OH 43212 USA *
* v:614-292-6170 f:614-292-0181 *
"The world is my oyster, except for months with an "R" in them" - Firesign
Theater
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